In my quest to max out the storage space of my Hotmail account, I have hundreds of targeted email marketing messages saved from a variety of different sources. With so much email coming in all the time, I thought it might make for a fun exercise to look back over the last few days’ worth of email and point out some highs and lows…
Witty vs Effective:
Nike probably doesn’t need my help when it comes to marketing themselves, but a recent email had the following subject line: “Actually, It Is Rocket Science.”
When it comes to writing subject lines, the temptation to be fun or witty can lead to trouble. In this case, Nike was promoting a new running shoe called the LunarGlide+, but I would have never known it based on the subject line. As always, when it comes to subject lines, remember that you are writing for the recipients, not yourself or others within your company. Of course you’d open that email; doesn’t mean your subscribers would.
Timely:
On a Thursday, Sirius | XM emailed me to let me know there would be a special, three-day channel dedicated to Woodstock over that weekend. Why is this timely? Because it was close enough to the weekend that it will still be fresh in recipients’ minds when they hit the road over the weekend. In November, this wouldn’t be nearly as effective, but during summer weekend road trip season, I really like the timing on this one.
You shouldn’t have:
My wife and I bought furniture from The RoomPlace last year, and for some reason they personalize messages by recipients’ last names rather than first names. My friends and my old football coach can call me by my last name, but it seems odd coming from a marketing message. Oh yeah, the last name they use is my wife’s maiden name—just to make it clear that I’m a valued subscriber.
Localized:
Apple sent me an email promoting a Grand Opening of a new Apple Store in my area. Complete with directions and a t-shirt giveaway, this was a great example of targeting subscribers based on geography to ensure relevance as well as sparing non-local subscribers news that wouldn’t hold much value for them.
Questionable relevance:
If Barnes & Noble has a preference center, there is no way to get there from their emails. This would really come in handy, as just this week I was sent a promotion about lower prices on text books and 10% off their selection of children’s books. Considering I’m neither a student nor a father, I wish there was a way I could choose which promotions I would like to receive.
Notice that I didn’t entirely discount the merits of any of these messages? Even those with flaws contained elements that the consumer in me could appreciate (i.e. Nike’s emails just look cool). In fact, it’s not often I come across a message that doesn’t have any redeeming qualities. The challenge email marketers face is typically not a full-scale overhaul of their messages, but the more difficult fine-tuning that will address deficiencies. As they say, the devil is in the details.
When it comes to Email Marketing and shoes, does DSW have the right fit? See if their email opt-in process and campaigns shine in the latest Email Marketing Minute.
Welcome again to The First 2 Weeks, where we analyze 3 competitors’ email marketing strategies when it is most crucial… the opt-in process, welcome message, and first few campaigns as these marketers attempt to establish relationships with subscribers.
In our first edition we evaluated the opt-in process and welcome messages for 3 competitors in the sports apparel segment: Nike, Reebok, and adidas. In part 2 we will now investigate campaigns sent beyond the welcome email and preference editing options.
INITIAL CAMPAIGNS
All 3 competitors sent out additional campaigns beyond the opt-in and welcome within the first 2 weeks. However each of the companies waited a considerable amount of time before deploying the first email. adidas communicated closest to the opt-in date (day 5) and the was the most frequent sender (as they sent 5 messages beyond the welcome). Reebok and Nike waited even longer before sending their first (and only) additional emails, with Reebok’s arriving on day 7 and Nike taking the full 2 weeks – arriving on day 14. Nike should take a cue from a retailer I reviewed in a previous post – Gander Mountain, as they could have benefited from a very quick first additional email, since like Gander Mountain they did not send a welcome email.
All 3 competitors had links to view their emails in a browser at the top of each email, while only adidas and Nike featured reminders to add them to your address book to ensure the delivery of future messages. It turned out to very important that all 3 companies include the view in a browser feature, as all of their emails are very image heavy and include a minimal use of alt tags to provide key information with images off.
My approach to saving money has changed drastically as the economy has entered into its current recession, and my recent birthday provided further evidence that I’m becoming a Grade-A tightwad. As the big day approached, rather than plan a party, I consulted my email inbox in an effort to unearth the best birthday deals I could find.
Of course, no one emailed me a coupon for a shiny new bike, but I did get a few offers that got me interested. Here are a few of the brands who reached out to remind me that not only is it okay to get older, it’s okay to be a cheapskate:
Earlier this year, SubscriberMail engaged a vendor to assist with an online advertising initiative. Just a couple of weeks ago, I received an email from this vendor that—despite containing elements of personalization, such as my name and company name—amounted to little more than a “canned” message that may as well have been aimed at a total stranger.
Even worse than the “infomercial” style of writing used in the message was the fact that it’s From address was that of a representative I had spent quite a bit of time working with before, both via email and over the phone. Having already established this relationship months before, I was a bit insulted to be given such a generic sales pitch—as if I had never heard of or been in contact with the vendor in question.
A week or so later, this same representative sent me a follow-up email that, while still a bit generic, seemed as though it was actually written to me. So I wrote back and we had a normal email exchange over the next couple of days.
The moral of this story is pretty simple: don’t treat email recipients as if they are all the same. The original message I received was sent through an email service provider (indicated by the ESP logo in the footer), so it’s safe to assume that at least basic segmentation tools were at this sender’s disposal. How then, could a completely generic sales pitch end up in the inbox of one of their former clients (i.e. me)?
There is a reason the second message prompted me to take action, while the first message left me cold. While elements of personalization—such as addressing recipients by name—are a nice touch, they can’t make the heart of the message itself any more relevant when it is way off the mark. Combining personalization with segmentation gives your message a much better chance of achieving the level of relevancy it needs. At the very least, some basic list segmentation—separating clients, former clients, prospects, etc. into their own lists—could have prevented this type of irrelevant communication now and in the future.
It can be easy to overlook the basics sometimes, but it’s also easy to see why it’s never a good idea.
In my quest to max out the storage space of my Hotmail account, I have hundreds of targeted email marketing messages saved from a variety of different sources. With so much email coming in all the time, I thought it might make for a fun exercise to look back over the last few days’ worth of email and point out some highs and lows…
My approach to saving money has changed drastically as the economy has entered into its current recession, and my recent birthday provided further evidence that I’m becoming a Grade-A tightwad. As the big day approached, rather than plan a party, I consulted my email inbox in an effort to unearth the best birthday deals I could find.
Earlier this year, 
